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A little bit of Tradition . Our last Student Government Day was held December 1 st and 2 nd 2003. This was our 19 th Student Government Day. It has been beneficial for all parties involved.
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A little bit of Tradition • Our last Student Government Day was held December 1st and 2nd 2003. • This was our 19th Student Government Day. • It has been beneficial for all parties involved. • Our next Student Government Day which is the 2004 edition will be our 20th year which is really amazing.
A Small Introduction • Student Government Day actually encompasses a nighttime City Council meeting followed the next day by a mock City Council session led by the students. • All student government day participates attend the City Council meeting on the first Monday in December.
How does Monday Help? • After attending the meeting Government Day participants gain an understanding of issues facing the city. • This helps everyone understand what issues they will be facing the next day.
The next day- Tuesday • Tuesday starts off bright and early. Students are assigned to a specific City Government position days before, but today they shadow them in the morning. • The various positions range from City Council Member to City Attorney to City Finance Director to the City Engineer. • There are various positions for students to shadow the city government staff.
So what happens next • After shadowing staff in the morning students then sit in Committee meetings to discuss the issues facing the city. • For instance, this year one of the Committee meetings was about the City’s Mosquito Control Program to deal with West Nile. • Certain students are required to attend the meetings to provide information about the problem learned in their shadowing experience earlier that morning.
So what happens next, Cont. • Also the students that are shadowing councilmen or women are required to attend one if not all the meetings to provide a recommendation to the council in the mock meeting later on. • During these committee meetings students are pushed to think creatively to meet the problems the city is facing and to develop a workable plan to council in the mock meeting.
Why the committee meetings rock • Committee meetings let the students think outside the box. • Most of the time they are entirely student led. • Students can take a completely different approach to an issue facing the city and write up a completely different solution they believe will work compared to the one the council is considering
After all this hard work it’s time for lunch • Now that the students have a grasp of the situation, it’s time for them to take a well deserved lunch break and to prepare for the mock meeting. • Now students are ready to tackle the mock meeting.
The Mock Meeting • The Mock Council Meeting is broadcast on the local TV Channel 19. • Students run through a real meeting that involves presenting the proposals created in the committee meetings to solve the issues. • Then the Students acting as City Council members hash out the issues and determine the overall feasibility of the solution.
The Mock Meeting, Cont. • Then the Students acting as Council members present a budget request to either ax a program to keep a program up and running. With budget cuts this year actual programs that stood a chance of facing the ax were debated. Each student is given a statement of that councilman’s or woman’s actual stance; however, the student can take any stance he or she would like and argue it any way they would like as well.
Analyzing the Meeting • The Mock Meeting actually serves a purpose. • The real council has taken ideas from the students and put them into action. • One example of this involved TABOR. Facing continued negative votes from the people the City was going to leave it off the ballot; however, students strong support to put it on the ballot the next November caused the city to do so.
Analyzing the Experience • Students gain an understanding of the city, how it works, what issues are at stake, and how the situation must be handled. • It is a great real life experience for all the students to see government in action. • From a city staff position, it is interesting to see the students try to tackle the problems presented everyday.
It’s a great experience • Thanks for tuning in to this Power Point Presentation about Student Government Day.